Planning and technical design of building services systems rely to an increasing degree on the aid of IT systems. It is, therefore, required to make product data available in machine-readable form. In the VDI directive VDI 3805, the Association of German Engineers (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure VDI) defines the interchange of product data between manufacturers, planners, builders and owners in the area of technical building equipment and services to provide for a uniform description of the data. If all pertinent technical data for the design of the product, the geometry (in the form of total space requirements, connections and form data for complex representation) as well as the product numbers, DATANORM numbers and StLB numbers are available, planners and architects can considerably simplify the design processes for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and sanitary systems.

With the VDI 3805 data record from AFRISO and AFRISO-GAMPPER (GAMPPER Armaturen), all relevant technical building equipment product data for specifications and tenders is available.

In the area of technical building equipment and services, the VDI directive VDI 3805 of the Association of German Engineers (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure VDI) ensures a fast and easy interchange of product data for IT systems between the manufacturers, planners, builders and owners involved in the design of building equipment systems. The required VDI 3805 data records are also available for products of AFRISO and AFRISO-GAMPPER (GAMPPER Armaturen). The current version of the product data record is available for free download at www.afriso.de/vdi3805. It is also possible to select the products online at www.vdi3805.org using a WebSelector.

The user can select the desired product using a range of selection criteria. The geometry data can be placed as 2D or 3D objects in detail and coarse representations or as a symbol, for example by means of drag&drop – independent of the CAD platform used; the data is placed in a cart and downloaded. In addition, the WebSelector provides high transparency by offering an easy product search and making it possible to switch between the required information on the component such as technical, commercial or geometric data. The open standard of the product data interchange format allows planners and architects to optimise their planning and design processes. If the components are integrated into heating, ventilation and sanitary system planning, it can be easily checked whether they fit into the design and the product information is automatically integrated into specifications and tenders. After completion of the project and the building, the product data allow for efficient support in Facility Management tasks such as maintenance and repair.